As expected, a pretty strong field turn out in Sunrise for the Challenger that conveniently takes place between the two big 96 draw Masters Series events. A number of withdrawals make it different in appearance to the entry list, but surprise losses to Dwayne Murdoch and Oneil Stewart give us two top twenty players which is huge for a Challenger draw.

Heath Davis pulled out of the doubles in Indian Wells in search of match practice, and will hope to make the most of it here with the third seed. He gets unlucky compatriot Randy Banks first who qualified with a straight sets win in the final round, but should have enough to get past him. It gets tougher from there, though, with the likes of Petr Brozik and Haiku Morkel in confident form as of late and ready to take out the World No. 30.

In the same section, Matt Bre will like his chances against Martin Reiter but will need a minor miracle against top fifteen player Dwayne Murdoch in a likely second round clash. Mitchell, meanwhile, has more of a chance of causing waves with his first two likely opponents coming off injuries. However, Murdoch remains the elephant in the room in that first section and will no doubt be keen to bounce back from his shock loss to Henrikk Henrikkson in California.

In the bottom half, seventh seed Scotland Rivers produced some good tennis in Indian Wells and has a section he's very capable of making it out of. He faces Ivan Cesljar first, and then a possible second round clash with Copenhagen champion Kasper Buur. If he can make it through there, Jason Bradley waits in the quarter finals and a possible semi final showdown with Oneil Stewart. The pair last met in San Jose where Rivers stunned the Jamaican en route to his first final.

The big two are, though, Murdoch and Stewart and both will be looking to work their way into some form with some wins over lower ranked opponents ahead of Miami. Watch out for Rivers and Oliver Engel to make an impact in the draw, but it looks likely we'll get a blockbuster final.

For the first time since the CW Open, high level tennis makes its way to picturesque CWLand, and for the first time arrives in the now independent nation of West CWLand. We go far west to Campsfield on one of the rare clay courts in the country capable of hosting a Challenger level event with the vast majority on the eastern side. Unsurprisingly, the CWLanders - both East and West - have turned out in force in a draw headlined by the likes of Jose Navarro, Valter Cordiero and former French Open runner up Johan Ortiz.

In Rabat last week, top seed Navarro was stunned in straight sets by Felipe Pelayo in the first round and sought a wildcard entry to tune up here in the Federal Republic. It means how he adapts to the conditions could mean a lot for the top half as he is far and away the best performed player in the draw. Local Rick Langley will be hoping he can catch him off guard should he pick up an expected victory over Harpreet Gupte, but Langley doesn't quite have the experience on clay perhaps to match the Peruvian at his best. As luck would have it, most of the West CWLanders are in the second quarter of the draw - wildcards Marcuss Deane and Pierre Rose meet in the very first round. Deane is coming off a flight from the United States and will head back at the end of the week to sneak into the Miami qualifying, and Rose will hope that his more settled schedule can put him in the box seat against the weapon that is the teenager's serve. Jason Lawley, meanwhile, draws Bergamo quarter finalist Leonel Romero but might not be good enough on this surface to match the in form Miguel Bertolotto in the second round.

In the bottom half, two special exempts were handed out to Easterners with Vladimir Stakhanov a good chance to continue his resurgence against Italy's Guilliano Soave. Phoenix Wleft, meanwhile, is coming off a semi final in Morocco and will be more than ready to continue his march into the red clay season having improved his ranking considerably. He faces one of his biggests tests yet in the second round should he make it through the first against Portuguese second seed Valter Cordiero. Finally, eighth seed Roy Daniels has been on a hiding to nothing this season but should fancy his chances of a quarter final at least with the likes of Jaime Barral and Luca Rossi standing in his way.

Much rests on how Jose Navarro performs, but I'll err on the side of caution and pick him to drop by the semi finals. Johan Ortiz is about ready to make his mark and should push for a final after a succession of quarter and semi final exits, whilst Cordiero, back on his favoured surface, looks the standout of the second half.

Prediction: Cordiero def. Ortiz

22-05-2010, 05:24 AM

HeathDavisSpeed

Albatross Overload championship? Does that mean that the tournament is unplayable?

22-05-2010, 06:53 AM

Marcuss

Hoping I've got enough to beat Rose, is the challenge of leading such a jet set lifestyle :cool:

Matt Bre has overcome a shaky start to oust Austrian alternate Martin Reiter in three sets in his first round clash in Sunrise. After a disappointing qualifying exit in Indian Wells last week, Bre again looked in trouble early as he dropped the first set to Reiter 2-6. But after finally shooting ahead with a break in the second game of the second set, Bre started a strong run and had the chance to break for a second set bagel. Whilst Reiter held, Bre closed the set out 6-1 with his fifth ace of the set. The pair traded two breaks of serve early in the third, but it was Bre who got the better of his European opponent as he cruised to a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win. He will need more consistency if he's to get past top seed Dwayne Murdoch in the second round after the American took just fifty-five minutes to dismantle Li Ming-Wang 6-2, 6-1 following his shock exit last week in California.

Wildcard entrant Mat Mitchell was also made to did it the hard way as he outlasted the returning Takis Georgilas in three sets. The Cypriot recently recovered from a minor injury, and looked completely match fit as he and Mitchell traded sets. But Mitchell, fresh off a second round showing at Indian Wells, had the legs to outlast the qualifier as he came from a break down to capture three games in a row and a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 win. He plays French veteran Jean-Alain Depuis after the fifth seed thumped Randy Bruce 6-4, 6-1.

There was more three-set action as third seed Heath Davis recovered from an early scare to scrape past compatriot Randy Banks in a thoroughly entertaining affair. Davis has been unable to really hit his straps on the outdoor American courts yet, but was stunned as he dropped the first set to Banks 3-6. Whilst he did enough to seal the second, he found himself down a break of serve twice in the third and was looking like he was on death's door. But like a true top 30 player, Davis did just enough to fire back into the match to survive an a massive upset as a brave Banks failed to close out the match in a 6-3, 4-6, 5-7 defeat.

The easiest win of the day, therefore, went to seventh seed Scotland Rivers who has no trouble beating lanky Croat Ivan Češljar. Rivers did not take long to kick into gear as he dominated the contest right from mid way through the second set to send Češljar packing with a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Češljar was awful with a 45 per cent first serve record, and was cannon fodder for the raging Rivers who was boosted earlier by fourth seed Jason Bradley's 4-6, 3-6 exit against Denis Isaev.

Local hope Rick Langley has made the perfect start in Campsfield as he snatched a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Indian qualifier Harpreet Gupte. In his adopted nation, Langley had too much in him for the World No. 244 as he got better as the match progressed. The clay surface posed some challenges for him, and those increase in the second round as he faces top seeded wildcard José Navarro who touched down in Campsfield and surged to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Chile's Renato Varas.

In the battle of the young wildcards, Australian Open junior champion Marcuss Deane secured a confidence-boosting victory with a 6-2, 6-4 thrashing of Pierre Rose. After making his PTA debut last week in Indian Wells with a 3-6, 4-6 loss to Javier Villaneuva, Deane carried on his good form to the clay by overpowering Rose in a flawless serving performance. The teenager is more developed than many his age, and showed that he is not to be underestimated as the older Rose struggled to get a look in when returning as he managed just three break points all match. Deane has a huge task overcoming third seed Johan Ortiz in the next round after he survived an early scare to beat qualifier James O'Raherty 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

There was no such luck for Jason Lawley as he failed in front of his home crowd with a three-set loss to seasoned Chilean Leonel Romero. The clay is not Lawley's surface of choice, and he did perhaps better than expected against the solid South American and very nearly had the first set. But Romero survived two break points at 3-3 and went on to clinch the set 6-3 before stumbling in the second. In a tense third, Lawley came from a break down twice but could not oust the World No. 199 as Romero advanced in a tiebreaker 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5).

Special exempt Vladimir Stakhanov continued his good form from Sarajevo in his trip west with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Guiliano Soave. Back on his favoured clay, Stakhanov was very impressive as he controlled the match against Soave and surged to a straight sets win in an hour and twenty minutes. He'll play fourth seed Fernando Aguero who was equally as impressive in his 6-3, 7-5 win over Sipko Wetzel.

Finally, two East CWLanders joined Stakhanov in the round of 16 to complete a great first round for both CWLand nations. Eighth seed Roy Daniels picked up a rare win on clay to bounce back from a qualifying exit at Indian Wells by beating Jaime Barral 6-3, 7-6(4), whilst special exempt Phoenix Wleft edged out a tough 7-5, 7-5 win over Guilermo Crespo. Wleft, last week a semi finalist in Rabat, has proved to be a hit on clay and looks in good stead for a climb up the rankings over the next two months following his impressive win.

A brave Matt Bre has not been able to avoid a second round exit in Florida as top seed Dwayne Murdoch picked up an expected victory in three sets. Bre was a distinct $4 outsider to beat Murdoch, and even that looked generous as he only managed to put one game on the board in the first set. But Murdoch, who was sensationally dumped out by qualifier Henrikk Henrikkson in his first match at Indian Wells, again looked troubled in the second set as he was broken twice by Bre who began to attack his with his forehand more aggressively. But after sending the match to a third, Bre got nervous and was broken from 40-15 to hand Murdoch a 4-1 lead. That was enough to help him coast into the quarters with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win.

He will play another East CWLander in Mat Mitchell after the wildcard picked up another victory over top fifty opposition with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win over 37-year old Frenchman Jean-Alain Depuis. The World No. 47, who returned from injury here at Sunrise, showed his amazing fitness for a man of his vintage but could not quite shake off the rust in a straight sets defeat. Mitchell, meanwhile, looks confident following his upset of Tal Cohen at Indian Wells but perhaps will find Murdoch a step too high in the quarter finals here at the Super Challenger in Sunrise.

The biggest shock of Wednesday came on Court No. 1 as third seed Heath Davis was bundled out in three sets by rapidly improving Czech player Petr Brožik. Davis didn't produce his best tennis in the first round, but was expected to account for Brožik. He wasn't prepared, though, for a first set blitz from Brožik who broke three times to take the set 6-1. Davis' serve was languishing around the 38 per cent mark and it needed to lift in the second. Whilst he couldn't get it over fifty, he made it count by holding all of his service games and stealing a break in the final game of the set. Davis needed to start getting first serves in as Brožik took a different approach in attacking the second serve relentlessly. That began to worry Davis who fired down six third set double faults as Brožik stood just behind the baseline. Brožik, meanwhile, grew in confidence and surged to victory with a hold to love 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Davis, who withdrew from the doubles in Indian Wells for some singles practice, will be left annoyed at his serving display that nudged 44 per cent during the match.

The other CWLander in action was Scotland Rivers who was a red-hot favourite following his first round thrashing of Ivan Češljar of Croatia. Turkey's Aksu Emrem, however, has also been in fine form and picked up a hard-fought win over Copenhagen champions Kasper Buur in the first round. Rivers, the seventh seed, was wake up call against the unseeded Turk who played solid and unfashionable tennis to take the first set 6-2 as Rivers lacked real focus when he needed it. He lifted slightly in the second set, but still was not producing the quality he's capable of as Aksu surged to a deserved 6-2, 7-5 upset against a lazy West CWLander.

Two makeshift CWLand teams were in action in the doubles tournament, and leading the round were Heath Davis & Scotland Rivers who atoned for their singles defeats the day before by punishing Hau Li-an & Sheng Yiming in straight sets. The wildcard Asian pairing failed to win a game all match as Davis and Rivers were clinical in their 6-0, 6-0 thrashing that was finished in just forty-six minutes. The Chinese-Taiwanese pair made it to 30 on the Davis/Rivers serve just once and were caught woefully short in defeat.

It will be a battle of East vs. West in the quarter finals as Matt Bre & Martti Korpinen picked up a three-set win over fourth seeds Vladimir Gryzlov & Sergiy Malachenko. With his usual partner Jefferson Drake still competing in the singles in Indian Wells, Korpinen was in the rare position of being unseeded and with a new partner. The Russian duo fought from a set down and went into the match tiebreaker on the back of some convincing form after taking the second set 6-2. But the Easterners pulled away from 3-3 to convert their second match point; advancing to an All-CWLand showdown 6-3, 2-6, [10-5].